Litigation developments: core M&A and corporate governance doctrines
Will COVID-19 Qualify as a ‘Material Adverse Effect’?
MAE Clauses: Troutman Sanders and Pepper Hamilton COVID-19 Litigation Podcast Series
Over the past 15+ years covered by the ABA studies, materiality scrapes have morphed from being a somewhat uncommon provision, seen in about 14% of transactions in 2005, to something near-ubiquitous in M&A purchase...more
Chancery Court Provides Additional Guidance on Disclosure Requirements for Corwin Analysis - One of the most significant decisions of the Delaware Chancery Court in the last 15 years was the court’s ruling in Corwin v....more
On March 1, 2022, Vice Chancellor Slights of the Delaware Chancery Court ordered CorePower Yoga (“CorePower”) to close the acquisition of 34 yoga studios from its largest franchisee, Level 4 Yoga (“Level 4”). The parties...more
Williams: Court of Chancery Finds Poison Pill Unenforceable - In February, the Delaware Court of Chancery held that a shareholder rights plan (a "poison pill") adopted by The Williams Companies, Inc. at the onset of the...more
In AB Stable VIII LLC v. Maps Hotel and Resorts One LLC et al., the Delaware Court of Chancery has published its first ruling regarding whether or not the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic constitute a material adverse effect...more
The decision leaves the door open for buyers to argue that inflexible ordinary course covenants can provide a basis to terminate a transaction in which a seller does not suffer an MAE. Key Points: ..The Delaware Court...more
On December 7, 2018, the Supreme Court of Delaware affirmed the Delaware Court of Chancery’s landmark ruling that Fresenius SE & Co. KGaA (“Fresenius”) properly terminated its $4.3 billion agreement to acquire Akorn, Inc....more
On December 7, 2018, the Delaware Supreme Court issued an order affirming the judgment of the Court of Chancery in Akorn, Inc. v. Fresenius Kabi AG, C.A. No. 2018-0300-JTL (Del. Ch. Oct. 1, 2018). ...more
In a first-of-its-kind post-trial opinion, the Court of Chancery ruled on October 1 in Akorn, Inc. v. Fresenius Kabi AG, C.A. No. 2018-0300-JTL, that German pharmaceutical company Fresenius Kabi AG had properly terminated its...more
A recent decision by the Court of Chancery of Delaware provides a reason to pause before agreeing to standard, boilerplate “material adverse change” clauses in purchase agreements. In Osram Sylvania, Inc. v. Townsend...more
Munich-based partner Jörg Kirchner and NY-based partner Eli Hunt discuss four key ways that private equty transactions in European and the US tend to differ. Kirchner, a Global Co-chair of Latham & Watkins’ Corporate...more